Shuttle guide



H. HOEBER Dec. 25, 1951 SHUTTLE GUIDE Filed March 26; 1947 IN VEN TOR.

Harold/ o e6 e1; fia c9 arse By Barbara 0. W //ae her and (/l/zY/z'amTFea 05 Ex 6 c Ara/01's BY ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 25, 1951 SHUTTLE GUIDE Harold Hoeber, deceased, late ofDartmouth, Mass, by Barbara 0. W. Hoeber and William T. Read, executors,Dartmouth, Mass, assignors, by memo assignments, to Hoosac MillsCorporation, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationMarch 26, 1947, Serial No. 737,315

4 Claims.

the picker or the shuttle may be so positioned in the shuttle box thatthe shuttle will be directed upwardly and thus might be thrown throughthe upper shed of the warp when the shuttle is picked. In other cases,the shuttle may tend to turn about'its longitudinal axis as it is beingpicked, or itmay move upwardly and then He'deflected downwardly byv theupper shed 'of the warp and the shuttle will follow'a zig-zag pathacross thevvarp and may enter the shuttle box improperly and fail tostop in the proper position therein. I

Accurate control of the shuttle, in looms operatingatja speed of'160picks per minute does not involve any problemf The shuttle is.picked out oithe shuttle box at relatively low speeds. For example, in als inch loom, the shuttle travels about 800 feet per minute. This speedis so low that in a properly adjusted loom, the shuttle will 'fol'lowthe shuttle race in a substantially straight path. 'M'odern high speedlooms operate at speeds in excess of 190 picks per minute and the.shuttle speeds becomefqiiite high. "In a 44 inch'loom operating at 190ipicks per minute, the shuttle travels about 950 feet per minute and whenoperating at 220 picks per minute the shuttle 'travel'is increased toabout 1160 feet per minute. At these 'high speeds, even when thepicker1o'arts are carefully and accurately adjusted, the'shuttle followsa zig-zag path across the lay. At low Speeds, even if the shuttle shouldstart in a'zig-zag path, the warp woulddampen or elimin'at'e this'zig-zag movement but, at high speeds, this movement often timesissuffioiently great'to'break the warp or cause wear on the warpsufficient to cause excessive" warp breakage. n 'der looms, whichoperate at no picks per i heinitialspeed ofi'theshuttleis equally Li sin'theh igh 'speed narrower looms. ,w'id looms; iconti'olof the erraticflight anemones presented dilficult prob- "onetweet athe-=prsentiiiven'tibn is to an vide improved shuttle guiding means bythe use of which the above mentioned difficulties will be avoided. Tothis end and in accordance with one feature of the invention, a shuttleguiding member is provided which is free to yield in one direction topermit an improperly positioned shuttle to enter and to be deflectedinto proper position in the shuttle box and which is arranged to be heldagainst movement when the shuttle is picked out of the shuttle box andto direct the shuttle in. a substantially straight path across the warpand which may be moved to permit an improperly positioned shuttle toenter and to be properly positioned in the shuttle box.

Other objects of the invention are to improve generally upon theconstruction and operation of weaving looms.

With the above and other objects and features in view, the inventionwill now be described with particular reference to the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and inwhich:

Fig. l is a view in front elevation of a lay in which the presentinvention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing an improperly positioned shuttleentering the shuttle box;

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken along the line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in section taken along the line IVIV of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the shuttle deflecting and guidingmechanism.

The present invention is illustrated as applied to the usual type ofautomatic loom. In the drawings only the left hand end of the lay it isshown. The parts not shown are of usual construction and form no part ofthe present invention; 7

The lay it is provided with the usual metal lay end i2 having a usualpicker slot for receiving a picker stick is having a usual picker 8 atits upper end. The lay end l2 forms the'bottom of the shuttle box inwhich the shuttle 23 is received. The shuttle box is provided with afront box plate 22 which is secured to the lay end i2 by usual capscrews24. The front box plate 22 extends from a point inwardly of the innerend 25 ofthe lay end 12 and outwardly to a point just beyond the capscrew 24. The inner end of the front box plate is not shown since it isshown as cut away to permit a more detailed-showing of' other parts.

' The shuttle box is also provided with a back box plate 2% having ausual pivoted binder 28 which is arranged to engage the rear wall of theshuttle 20 and to check the same as it enters the shuttle box. The frontand back box plates 22 and 26 are spaced apart a distance justsufiicient to permit the shuttle 28 to enter therebetween. The binder 28is spring urged forwardly and is provided with the usual swell againstwhich the shuttle acts to swing the binder about its pivot to operatethe usual protector mechanism (not shown). The pressure of the binder 28causes the shuttle 26 to bear against the front box plate 22 which isprovided with the usual friction surface which acts in conjunction withthe binder to check the shuttle 2c in the shuttle box. When the shuttle20 is completely and properly boxed, the lower surface of the shuttlerests on the top surface of the lay end I2 forming the bottom of theshuttle box and the outer spur 30 of the shuttle 20 is received in ausual recess in the inner end of the picker IS with the picker stick 16engaging a bumper 32 at the end of the lay. When the shuttle comes torest in this position and the loom parts are properly adjustedto'provide a uniform pick and uniform boxing, the shuttle should alwaysbox properly in the opposite shuttle box.

Under some conditions, picking of the shuttle may be interfered with orits flight deflected. Conditions which control picking of the shuttleare usually within the control of the operator and may be remedied byproper adjustments of the loom parts but deflection of the shuttleduring flight cannot be so readily controlled. Warp threads in the lowershed may extend substantially above the raceway and thus deflect theshuttle slightly upwardly or the picker itself may be defective whichwill, under some conditions, cause the shuttle to lope across the warp.It is desirable, therefore, to cause the shuttle to be picked across thewarp without undue pressure against either the raceway or against theupper shed of the warp thus preventing excessive wear on the warpthreads and insuring that flight of the shuttle will be substantiallyunimpeded and uniform for every pick.

To provide this desirable condition, the present loom is provided with ashuttle deflector and guide 34, which is fixed to the inner end portionof the back box plate 26. The deflector and guide 34 comprises a support35 having a pair of openings for receiving cap screws or bolts 38 whichsecure the support 36 to the back box plate 26, or, if desired, to thesword. The support 36 is provided with an inclined portion 48 having adovetail groove 42 therein which is arranged to receive a dovetail 44formed on a movable member 28. A gib 48 is provided to take up whateverwear may occur between the groove 42 and the dovetail 44. Adjustingscrews 58 are provided which extend through the side wall of theinclined portion 46 and project into the groove 2 and engage the gib 18.Check nuts 52 serve to maintain the adleather 53 may, if desired, beskived so as to be.

thicker adjacent one edge than at the other edge to accommodate shuttleshaving a higher back wall than front wall. The difference in thicknessof the front and rear edges is, of course, equal to the difference inheight between the front and rear walls of the shuttle.

The height of the lower surface of the member 46 is determined by theheight of the shuttle. The lower flat surface ofthe leather 58 ispositioned so that there is only sufiicient clearance between it and thetop of the shuttle to provide for a running fit and the shuttle will beclosely ment of the member 46 under the influence of the compressionspring 66 which is interposed between the members 36 and 46. Thus, theheight of the member 46 is accurately controlled by manipulations of theadjusting screw 60 which is locked in adjusted position by a check nut68.

The member 46 is arranged to yield and to move upwardly when it isengaged by an improperly positioned shuttle. As shown, for example, inFig. 2 of the drawings, the tip 30 of the shuttle 20 is raisedsufliciently to engage the movable member 46 which is thus raisedagainst the tension of the spring 66. The shuttle 20 is deflecteddownwardly and, by the time that it is completely boxed, it will beproperly positioned therein. When the shuttle is picked out of the boxand the picker parts are properly adjusted, the upper surfaces of thefront and rear walls of the shuttle 20 will not engage the under surfaceof the leather 58. If, on the other hand, the picker I8 is too low, theleading end of the shuttle 20 V will rise and engage the leather 58; butsince the movable member 46 has reached the limit of its movement in thedirection of movement of the picked shuttle, the shuttle 20 will beforced to remain down against the lay end 12 until the shuttle is pickedout of the box. Thus, the shuttle 20 leaves the shuttle box properly andtends to follow a substantially straight path until it is boxed in theopposite shuttle box. When the shuttle 20 has once entered the shed, theshuttle has sufficient momentum so that it is not readily deflected outof its normal path by occasional warp threads which may be positionedabove the race-way in the lower shed of the warp.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a loom, an oscillating lay, a shuttle box on said lay, a shuttle,means for picking the shuttle, said shuttle box having front and backwalls and a bottom wall, and a guiding member positioned adjacent to theentering end of said shuttle box with a lower surface parallel to thebottom wall and means to movably mount said member to maintain its lowersurface parallel to said bottom wall, said means controlling themovement of said member to cause its surface to remain stationary todirect and maintain the shuttle in position against the bottom of theshuttle box when the shuttle is driven out of the box.

2. In a loom, an oscillating lay, a shuttle box on said lay, a shuttle,means for picking the shuttle, said shuttle box having front and backwalls and a bottom wall, and a guiding member positioned adjacent to theentering end of said' shuttle box with a lower surface parallel tothebottom wall and means to movablymount said member to maintain itslower surface parallel to said bottom wall, said means controlling themovement of said member to cause its surface to remain stationary todirect and maintain the shuttle in position against the bottom of theshuttle box when the shuttle is driven out of the box and to permitmovement of said member out of guiding position as the shuttle entersthe box.

3. In a loom, an oscillating lay, a shuttle box on said lay, a shuttle,means for picking the shuttle, said shuttle box having a bottom wall andfront and back plates forming front and back walls spaced apart adistance sufiicient to permit the shuttle to enter without binding, asupport fixed to the inner end portion of one of said plates, upwardlyand outwardly inclined ways on said support, and a deflector memberhaving a surface-substantially parallel to said bottom wall and slidablymounted on the ways of said support, said deflector member beingnormally spring urged to its lowermost position and being arranged toyield upwardly and outwardly to deflect an incoming shuttle and to bemaintained in its lowermost position to maintain said shuttle againstthe bottom of the shuttle box when the shuttle is driven out of theshuttle box.

4. In a loom, an oscillating lay, a shuttle box on said lay, a shuttle,means for picking said shuttle, said shuttle box having a bottom walland front and back box plates forming front and back walls spaced aparta distance sufficient to permit the shuttle to enter without binding, asupport fixed to the inner end portion of the back box plate, upwardlyand outwardly inclined ways on said support, a member having a guidingsurface substantially parallel to said bottom wall, said member beingslidably mounted in the ways of said support, cooperating adjustablestop means on said support and said member for limiting the downward andinward movement of said member, and spring means normally urging saidstop means toward each other.

BARBARA O. W. HOEBER,

WILLIAM T. READ, Executors 0 the Estate of Harold Hoeber, De-

ceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 687,520 Draper Nov. 26, 19011,048,070 Heidel Dec. 24, 1912 1,167,369 Joncas Jan. 4, 1916 1,384,807Robertson July 19, 1921 2,106,559 Tuten Jan. 25, 1938 2,171,729Livermore Sept. 5, 1939 2,426,971 Kotteman Sept. 2, 1947

